Shanghai Major Day Two Group Stage Results, James “2GD” Harding fired

James "2GD" Harding hosting the English analyst panel. Source: Official DotaMajor stream.

Day two of the Dota 2 Shanghai Major brought a lot of interesting matches, along with its fair share of controversy as fan-favorite host and commentator James “2GD” Harding was reportedly fired by Valve.

James hosted the English analyst panel which filled the time leading up to and in-between yesterday’s matches. After the stream was taken down for a break, 2GD tweeted “Sorry to say I won’t be returning to the Shanghai major, I was let go after that last segment. We’ll always have day 1 together. :(“

He later revealed that he was fired by Valve, and will be releasing a statement about what exactly happened later today. Given James’ laid-back, hilarious but not always politically-correct commentary, it’s likely that the decision was the result of something he said. One popular theory is that he made comments about the technical issues and delays of the tournament, or disagreed with the production team about when to cut to a break. In any case, we’ll find out later today.

Day Two results, courtesy of the official Shanghai Major website.

As for the actual games, day two showcased matches in Group B, consisting of Alliance, Team Spirit, Vici Gaming, and Fnatic.

Alliance vs Team Spirit (2:0)

The day started with Alliance expectedly going 2:0 over Team Spirit. Alliance won the first match in dominating fashion, but game two was a lot more competitive. The score constantly went back and forth as both teams picked initiation-heavy and mobile lineups. It wasn’t until Team Spirit made a crucial misstep at 42 minutes which saw both Zeus and Lina get picked off, allowing Alliance to push the base and secure the win.

Fnatic vs Vici Gaming (2:1)

In the second series of the day, Fnatic defeated Vici Gaming in a close series. Fnatic won the first match with their push-heavy lineup of Chen, Shadow Shaman and Lone Druid. Fnatic once again went for the push strat in game two, but VG never let their lineup get off the ground. Game three saw some very strange picks from VG, with a jungle Night Stalker along with a mid Bristleback. Fnatic took lead of the game from the very beginning and took the win by 22 minutes.

Team Spirit vs Vici Gaming (2:0)

In the follow-up losers match, Spirit quickly dispatched Vici with a 32 and 28 minute win.

Alliance vs Fnatic (2:0)

Meanwhile in the winners match, Alliance defeated Fnatic, securing themselves a spot in the main event upper bracket. While game one was going in favor of the Malaysian team, Alliance managed to survive until their Spectre Zeus combo became too much to handle. Alliance started game two in dominating fashion, securing 10 kills by 15 minutes. While Fnatic were posed to make a comeback, they were eventually defeated by 50 minutes.

Fnatic vs Team Spirit (2:1)

In the final series of the day, Fnatic defeated Team Spirit 2:1, becoming the 2nd team to qualify for the upper bracket of the main event. Game one started with Fnatic in the lead, until Spirit’s Outworld Destroyer and Gyrocopter secured their BKBs and turned the game in their favor. Game two saw Fnatic take the same 3 heroes that Spirit used to defeat them in game one – OD, Earth Spirit, and Gyro, netting them the win at 31 minutes. In the final match, Fnatic’s TA and OD combo proved to be too much for Spirit, who were playing from behind the entire game.

You can check out the VODs of yesterday’s matches at the official Twitch streams, as well as the upcoming Group C matches.